FUEL BACK-UP – U.S. Rep. Bill Delahunt stands behind Clay Schofield of the Cape Cod Commission at an April 8 conference on local use of biofuels held at Yarmouth Town Hall. Schofield coordinates the Cape Cod Renewable Fuels Partnership, formed at the instigation of the congressman.

Renewables could be produced, consumed here

If you think the potential of biofuels is just a lot of corn, think again.

Alternatives to oil-based fuels were the topic April 8 at a conference sponsored by the Cape Cod Renewable Fuels Partnership at Yarmouth Town Hall. There was talk of closing the energy loop on Cape Cod by turning construction debris into cellulosic (non-corn-based) fuel for local fleets of municipalities and private companies, among other ideas.

U.S. Rep. Bill Delahunt, an evangelist for research and development – and delivery – of alternative fuels in Massachusetts, said current criticism of corn-based ethanol for taking land out of food production shouldn’t slow down the Commonwealth.
“I don’t expect we’ll be railing in corn ethanol from Iowa anytime soon,” he said, “but we need the infrastructure so E85 can be delivered to fleet vehicles here. Cape Cod is the perfect place to see it happen.”

E85 is the designation for a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline that can be used by a new generation of flexible-fuel vehicles.

Delahunt said he envisions Route 6 as a future “energy corridor” along which motorists could fill up without benefit of petroleum. He sees involvement in production and consumption of alternative fuels as a way to restore an American economy devastated by dependence on foreign oil.

Other speakers included Andrew Schuyler, director of Northeast Biofuels Collaborative, who spoke about legislative efforts by state Sen. Rob O’Leary and others to provide incentives for biofuels production and use.

Laura Scott of Gulf Oil/Cumberland Farms, which would like to establish a ethanol station on the Cape like its operations in upstate New York, made a presentation with Ed Burke, chairman of the board of Dennis K. Burke, Inc., of Chelsea, which is very close to operating an E85 fueling station in that community.

In an interview later in the week, Burke said it would likely be two years before an E85 station could open on the Cape. “There are not enough (flex-fuel) vehicles out there to offset the costs,” he said. Even so, he believes the business will “grow and grow.”

His alternative fuels business already has. “I hit a home run with biodiesel,” he said. “We were the first in the Northeast. I’ve made a bloody fortune in the biodiesel business.”

Burke’s biodiesel is a blend of soybean, canola and recycled cooking oil.

If that sounds a trifle far out, consider this. Greenpeace reported on April 10 that a supplier of ketchup packets and beef patties to McDonald’s restaurants in California has joined an effort to build a plant that will convert cooking oil and recycled fats from fast-food restaurants into biodiesel. The plan is to go national at some point after 2009 and build facilities close to the source “along interstate corridors.”